Inkjet printheads may suffer from printhead nozzles becoming blocked or partially obstructed when not used for a certain length of time due to ink residue in proximity to the nozzles hardening. Blocked or obstructed printhead nozzles may lead to print quality issues, especially if ink drops are not ejected by a nozzle as planned during a printing operation.
A blocked or obstructed nozzle may generally be cleared by causing the nozzle to fire one or multiple ink drops from the nozzle. This purging operation is generally known as spitting. Generally, spitting is performed over a special reservoir, known as a spittoon, incorporated into the printing system and into which purged ink is received. Typically a printhead is moved out of a print zone and into a service station zone comprising a spittoon.